Momo
Momo is a very popular Tibetan delicacy in Sikkim. It is prepared by stuffing minced meat, vegetable or cheese in flour dough and then moulding them in the form of dumplings. These are then steamed for about half an hour in a three tiered utensil that has bone or tomato soup in the lowest compartment. Steam from the boiling soup rises through the perforations in the containers above and cooks the dumplings. Momos are taken along with soup and home made chilly sauce. Eight momos which constitute one double are quite filling. It is available in most of the local restaurants.
Thukpa or Gya-thuk
It is noodle soup with vegetable. Thukpa is readily available in most of the local restaurants.
Phagshapa
Phagshapa is strips of pork fat stewed with radishes and dried chillies.
Sael Roti
This Nepali cuisine is prepared by grinding a mixture of rice and water into a paste. The paste is then poured into hot oil and deep fried. It is normally eaten with potato curry. Normally not available in restaurants but is widely prepared during parties.
Niguru with Churpi
Niguru is a local fiddlehead fern and its tendrils when light with churpi (cheese) forms an irresistible dish. Normally not available in restaurants but is prepared as a household dish.
Gundruk
Gundruk are leaves of the mustard oil plant that have been allowed to decay for some days and then dried in the sun. these dried leaves are then cooked along with onions and tomatoes and forms a tasty dish.
Chang (Thomba)
Chang is a local beer with is made by fermenting millet using yeast. It is sipped from a bamboo receptacle using a bamboo pipe. The receptacle which has millet in it is topped with warm water a couple of times unit the millet loses its potency. Chang can sometimes be strong and very intoxicating indeed.
Bamboo shoot
Its an another commonly used ingredient in local food. This can vary from fresh bamboo shoot called Tama, which is often used with pork to make an irresistible curry to Mesu, a traditional fermented bamboo shoot product used to make pickles.
Sishnu Soup
But the most exotic local dish is surely, prepared from leaves of edible wild varieties of nettle.
